>> The Atlanta police officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks by shooting him literally
in the back, has been charged criminally. These are charges that were filed by the Fulton
County District Attorney, Paul Howard. And the most important charge in question is the
felony murder charge that he's facing.
The district attorney has also charged the cop in this case, Garrett Wolfe, 11 charges
in total. So, not only is he charged, but his colleague who was on the scene at the
time is also facing three charges. His name is Devin Brosnan. And he is cooperating with
authorities, and has agreed to testify against his colleague, Garrett Wolfe, who is the individual
who opened fire and shot Brooks in the back.
Two of those bullets did hit him and he died later in the hospital. And this is what people
were asking for. They were asking for criminal charges, and these criminal charges have been
filed, and Wolfe will have his day in court. >> Yeah, I would say I think a very minor
version of what people want is, for this sort of story to not be a story.
First of all, because it wouldn't happen- >> Right.
>> Because they wouldn't be trained to decide that it's easier to just shoot a man in his
back, rather than actually chase him. Or, may God forbid, let him go and have to track
him down later. But also that, if something like this happens, yeah, that's what it's
expected.
They murdered this guy. He gets charged with murder, goes to jail. That's what it should
be. It shouldn't be like, my god, thanks to the protests. It looks like maybe there will
actually be justice. It shouldn't be a substantive or sort of newsworthy sort of consideration,
but it is.
And they didn't wanna chase the guy. And so they shot him in the back, it's madness. And
then everything they did afterward. Imagine if, let's say that they actually thought that
this had to happen. It wasn't just a matter of how dare you defy me or make me chase you.
After you shoot the person, how do you not do everything you possibly can, with the training
that you've got, to save the person's life? They're not a threat to you anymore. They're
not going anywhere. You don't even have to jog after them. You don't, you just let it
happen couple minutes go by.
You're worried about paperwork, or well, man, I wonder if there were cameras that caught
this insane thing I did, rather than saving a person's life, while it could potentially
still have been saved. >> I don't know why the, it shouldn't be controversial
to say that there needs to be a high standard when officers use deadly force.
That's really what this discussion is about. It's not about minimizing the severity of
drunk driving, it's not to paint an angelic picture of every person who's been caught
up in these cases of police brutality. This is about whether or not we're comfortable
living in the society, where cops get to decide whether you live or die, right?
They get to carry out whatever version of justice is in their minds, and they get to
do so without allowing you to have your day in court, right? We're supposed to have those
protections. People are supposed to have those rights. And so as the retired LAPD Sergeant
shared with CNN, it was a video that we shared earlier this week when we covered this story.
You're supposed to, the police department when they come across a situation like this
where someone flees, and by the way they did check Rayshard Brooks to see if he had any
lethal weapons on him, he did not. So they knew that he wasn't an imminent threat to
their lives, right?
As the retired LAPD Sergeant said in that CNN interview, you're supposed to create a
perimeter in that area in order to catch him safely, put them in custody, and make sure
that justice is served in that regard, right? And they didn't do that. Shooting someone
in the back, I mean, the very nature of that indicates that he was not an imminent threat
to that cop.
>> Yeah. >> And you don't get to decide, you don't
get to be the judge to jury an executioner. We're supposed to have, so again, we're supposed
to have some level of I don't know. Just- >> Empathy?
>> I know, but we're not. We're not allowed to have empathy, we're not allowed to do an
honest analysis of what's going on in this country.
And I just don't understand it. I don't think anyone would be comfortable knowing that their
family member died. Because anyone opened fire without giving them the opportunity to
defend themselves in court, right? Anyway, so, sorry for that whole spiel. It's just
so frustrating, that it's a difficult concept for so many people to grasp.
>> Yeah. >> Anyway.
>> And also really fast, one other quick consideration you're in the park in a lot of a Wendy's.
Obviously this not off in some remote area in the woods of the desert, you're firing
your gun totally needlessly. Not only did you kill someone, but you easily could have
hit an innocent bystander nearby.
When you fire your weapon, that bullet goes where it's gonna go, and there are people
around you, could have hit someone. There are people just filming in the area. And so
that's incredibly dangerous. And also, I understand that we are in a particular type of bubble,
and that our job is to pay attention and try to be as tapped into the news, and what's
going on around the country as possible.
So we're going to be cognizant of what these big stories are, what the moment is in the
country. But imagine how many stories like this have come up? Just in the midst of all
the time since the protest started. It's like the nation is focused on excessive force and
brutality.
And that wasn't enough, not to stop him from pulling out his gun and shooting in the sky
as he ran away. Like you know a basic humanity should, you should be trained to not do that,
all of those considerations. The fact that people are filming, but even the fact that
we're all focused like a laser on police brutality, wasn't enough to stay as hand in this case,
and in so many cases over the past few weeks.
>> By the way, we are all learning more about what happened, and what Devin Brosnan's role
in all of this was. So new reporting indicates that after the shooting, Wolfe said, quote,
I got him. We knew about that already, and then kicked him. We didn't know about that
until recently.
And Brosnan then stood on Brooks's shoulder. And Howard said, that's the district attorney
that I was referring to earlier. The officers did not provide medical aid to Brooks for
more than two minutes after he was shot. Look, it's just about questioning whether we're
comfortable with this. We're supposed to again have a justice system that deems us innocent
until proven guilty.
And that means that no one on the streets including cops, should have the ability to
decide whether we live or die, if we do not pose an imminent threat to their lives, period.